NewSong: Mission Metroplex Tour

2011-06-17T07:22:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to shoot a reminder. No video update for today. The live broadcast took the place of it instead. U can check it out at Justin.tv/zackbutterfield Thursday was amazing. We had a great last day of Vbs and saw more kids come to Jesus! it was really an amazing time watchig or youth this week use there gifts so well in this typeof mission work. They are truly gifted in loving others directly one on one. They have been great ambassadors of Christ. Well i gotta run. About to get started on shoes for souls well see u tomorrow!

Wednesday!

2011-06-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

We had another great day of VBS! Mission Arlington is doing amazing things to advance the kingdom of God here in Arlington and it has been a joy to be a part of it. Our youth are really starting to see the fruits of their labor as they are investing in the lives of the kids here. Just yesterday we had youth leading kids to Christ who, before we got there, did not even know who God was! We are praising God for the good work He is doing here and are thankful He is using us to accomplish some of that work. After 2 shifts of VBS, we went to have some free time while the juniors went on their super secret trip. Sorry no spoilers here :). Then we debriefed and headed to bed. Today marks the final day of VBS with the kids. I know our youth are ready to finish strong but are also saddened to leave them. Pray for strength this day. We have another busy day ahead and the heat is rising as the week continues. Thanks for all the comments! We are looking forward to seeing you tonight at 9:30 for the live broadcast. Reminder: We don't have internet so I'll be broadcasting from the phone. this might make the broadcast short, or we might run into technical difficulties, but we'll give it a shot. See you then!

2011-06-15T07:29:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I forgot what day it was and mistyped. The live update will be TOMORROW (thursday) at 930 as originally planned not tonight. See u then!
Z

2011-06-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! Whew what a great day we had yesterday! The morning was chocked full of VBS. Followed by more VBS after lunch. Our youth have been doing an amazing job with it as well. They are connecting with little kids that need a connection to others. They are sharing the gospel with those that don't even know who Jesus is. (One of our youth actually had an older child ask him "Who is God?") They are answering the call that God has placed on their lives for this week and are answering it tremendously! After VBS we had a sweet time with the people at a retirement community. We did our full program, a tremendous feat considering we did it immediately after doing a full day of VBS in the Texas heat! But they sang so well and truly ministered to those people. Thank you for your prayers. I know they are being answered being able to witness what God is doing here everyday. And it brings me great joy to bring to you the testimony of our kids with these videos. Keep praying for us, leave your comments and we'll see you TONIGHT at 9:30pm for the live broadcast. We don't have wifi so I'm going to try it using my phone. It may be a shorter broadcast, but we'll try it.

see you soon.

Monday

2011-06-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Well Monday marked the first full day of VBS. All of the hard work our youth put into training during the bonus rehearsals really paid off. Even after one full day we are already hearing testimonies of the strong connections our youth are making with the kids of the apartment complexes. We are also hearing of kids (and even adults) making decisions for Christ. All under the leadership of our students being used by the Lord. Needless to say I can't wait for day two! After VBS we all went to the church where Jamie grew up in his youth group/youth choir. And we wrapped up the day by going to a great Tex-Mex spot called Rosa's! Delicioso! Pray for our students today. It will be the toughest day they will have. Two VBS' followed by a full concert at a nursing home in the evening.

PS- the VBS sites are spread out really far so I can only get to two out of three groups a day. So if you dont see your youth doing VBS in one video, you'll see them the following day :)

Thanks for all your posts! See you soon!

Sunday

2011-06-13T06:36:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Sunday was such a great first full tour day! it began with a time of leading worship at Agape Baptist Church. The kids sang great. We even got to see Jamie's parents. Then we went off to Mission Arlington to pass out flyers in local apartment complexes to advertise the upcoming VBS ministries we would be a part of. After that, we headed to Ridgelea Baptist Church, Jamie's home church. It was our first full performance. The kids sang even better and New Perspective had a great first Tour performance as well. It was a very worshipful moment and a sweet moment with so many supporters there for us and Jamie especially. After dinner with the church we headed home to rest! As I write this, the students are getting some VBS training, so I better get back to it. Have a great day! Keep praying for us as we look to God to use us to advance His kingdom here.

PS- Feel free to leave comments and I'll pass them along :)

Saturday Video!

2011-06-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

We have internet! here is the video for Saturday. Looks like well have posts done the day after. Today is going great so proud of our students for leading worship today at Agape Baptist!

2011-06-11T20:27:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Well we made it in one piece. As u can tell, there is no video with this post. We do not have Internet at the place we are staying. But we will have Internet tomorrow so I should be able to upload a video then. For now I can update the blog via texting. Cel phone service is Also poor here so it may effect our live broadcast. I will update u all as the week goes. Check back tomorrow afternoon for the sturdy vid. See u soon!

Day 7

2010-06-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Well its the end of our final day in Chicago. Which means choir tour 2010 is coming to a close. It's a bittersweet moment for me. I anticipate a warm bed, my own shower, and the comforts of home. But a big part of me also is sad to see this wonderful time come to a close. We have truly built a bridge to Chicago. God gave us some awesome ministry opportunities to the lower west side today at The Marcy Center. And He has done that for us all week. But just like any time you build a bridge, BOTH sides are changed. In the few days we have been here, I have seen so much change for the better in our group. We have grown closer. We have grown stronger, and we have grown a little more like Christ. We are united in purpose and being. New friendships made here will be long lasting and old friendships have been sharpened and become deeper. Jesus is doing amazing things and NewSong is a part of it. It is an honor as a youth minister to witness it and to tell you all about it back home. Tomorrow, sadly, there will be no video here, but instead you will get the NewSong choir in the flesh as we arrive home tomorrow. Our schedule has us arriving around 9:30. We will have the students call you after our dinner stop at Lambert's to let you know what variations we run into whether it be earlier or later. Thank you so much friends and family for your prayers. I believe they were answered. Be ready, you will have changed kids when they come home. But you will also have tired ones. You're welcome :) Just kidding! We'll see you tomorrow. Once again this is Zack signing off. We'll see you on Blogspot next year!

Day 6

2010-06-17T23:07:00.001-07:00

Day 6! Play day and a LONG DAY. Its 1 am and we are all actually still up. We had an incredible day in Chicago being tourist! Our day began in the clouds as we went to the 103rd story of the Sears (now WIllis) Tower. Then we had an afternoon at Wrigley field where we had an incredible game. Cubbies won in the 9th inning! What a game! Then the seniors wen ton a super secret trip. I'd tell you more but it wouldn't be a secret! After a late night coming back we got together for a wonderful night of deep worship together with communion and blessing our seniors with our affirmation, encouragement and love. It was a truly powerful night. Because of the late hour and all the activities, there was no time to edit. Unfortunately we won't have a video tonight. But tomorrow we will present our final video. We'll include some footage from today in it as well.

Thanks for your prayers. See you soon!

Day 5

2010-06-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Wednesday is a good day people! :) The sun came out for us as the rain departed for a great day of ministry in Chicago. We started with a brief orientation time and then got to work! The girls and guys split up today to take on two different tasks. The guys went to a home our host deacon knew and did some major yard clean up and work to give the yard a new face lift. The girls went back to Cornerstone Community Outreach to help with the major task of sorting through clothes and shoes for the homeless living in the shelter to have. After our ministry time we went to lunch and then came back to our host church in Indiana early to get ready for our Wednesday night Church concert for them. Then we had an amazing time where our youth shared testimony to the other youth group the power of doing missions and what Christ is doing in our group. Then we had some play time with them and bond together. Overall, an incredible day. This trip has been great so far. God is doing so much in the lives of our students. It's amazing to see. Tomorrow is our play day so be ready for a really fun video. Thank you for your prayers! I believe they are being answered in a big way! Have a great night!

Day 4

2010-06-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO AT www.ustream.tv/user/zackbutterfield

Our update is on a video recorded live tonight. Go to that site and click on the video titled "Newsong live from Chicago." At the beginning i give an update on what we did and you will get to see the kiddos. Check back tomorrow for another video.

If you had problems on ustream, go ahead and make your own account to use for future chatting. It is pretty simple to do and it is a sure fire way for it to work. Thanks everyone. I'll keep you updated for any future USTREAMS!

Day 3

2010-06-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

Day three is done. Boy what a long but awesome day! Today was our first day to the city and our first ministry partnership with Uptown Baptist Church. We spent our morning doing some mission training/orientation with them. They showed us around their campus and put us to work cleaning up a nearby playground. Then we went off to Millennium Park for some lunch and a brief hang out time. After that, we headed back to UBC to sing for the homeless as they waited for the weekly meal the church provides for them. Needless to say it was an extremely powerful experience. And the best part I we are just scratching the surface when it comes to the mission work we will be doing with this church. After cleaning up, the hour was late and we headed home for a late dinner and debrief with Taylor Bodmer as our U Rock Winner! I think we will all sleep well tonight. More to come tomorrow. We'll see you then!

USTREAM UPDATE: Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9:45pm we will be bringing you a LIVE update. Go to www.ustream.tv/user/zackbutterfield and then click 'go to show page" to see us live. You can chat with us back by logging in in the chat window. username you will use is tbcuser and the password is trinity. Go their now and watch and instruction video on how to do this. See you tomorrow night at 9:45!

2010-06-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Day one is done! Well the first FULL day. Today was our Highland day as we stayed in the suburb for worship and local ministry before hitting the big city tomorrow. Today marked with an early wake up call. The kids did great being flexible and cleaning up and repacking so church functions could still be held. We were blessed to be a part of the worship service this morning as well. After spending the Sunday School hour with the youth and then leading in worship at Cline Avenue Baptist, we headed to a park for lunch and then performed our first full performance at a Highland Nursing Home. The choir sounded great and really had a wonderful ministry opportunity with those living there. After that, it was already time for dinner, showers and debriefing with our U Rock Winner, Emma Morse! Tomorrow we get up earlier, work even harder and head to Chi Town. Enjoy the video! Look for us tomorrow night!

USTREAM UPDATE: Tomorrow is looking to be a very late night for us. Be looking for a time Wednesday or Thursday night during our debriefing time. I will send you an exact date and time soon. We look forward to seeing you LIVE!

Fresh Wind Tour Day 1

2010-06-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to our destination! We had a great day of travel. We didn't see too much traffic and we didn't see a whole lot of rain. Although the one downpour we did see happen to come right when we were off the bus :). After a long day on the road we made it to our host Church in Indiana about 30 minutes away from Chicago. We had a good set up, found all of our food here waiting for us and all got our showers in. After that, we had our first night of evening devotions as we prepared for the week, we also had our First U Rock presentation. One choir member a day has the opportunity to win the U Rock for showing a great attitude, hard work, spiritual leadership, and being an overall model for the group. Tonight it was presented to Austin Cash. I am so excited for what lies ahead. Tomorrow is our first full day of ministry and we hit the ground running singing for the service tomorrow and for a local nursing home down the road. It is so clear God has paved a way for us and we cant wait to be a part of His glory. Be praying for us. Leave some comments in the comment section if you like, and ENJOY THE DAY 1 VIDEO! It's 1 am here now and this will be the usual time for videos to be loaded. The quality is a little low due to internet mumbo jumbo but it still should be fun to watch.

USTREAM UPDATE: I'll leave one of these everyday. We still do not have a time for the ustream. We will find our rhythm tomorrow and get a feel for what will work best. We are very optimistic as the internet works well here. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for your prayers!

2010-06-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

New year, new look, NEW VIDEOS!! Hey everyone. Welcome back to the NewSong blog page! We have a new look to the website, and new videos coming to you this year every day during choir tour. These videos will be 2-3 minutes packed with tour action, singing, missions, and testimonies. We are so excited about the week coming. In our excitement, Jamie and i made a video that many of you have seen, High Five Chicago. It's a teaser of all the places our choir will go to while on tour. Hope you enjoy! Keep praying for us as we get prepared for the awesome adventure God has for us

Thursday

2009-06-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well, today marks the final day of our time in Philly! What an awesome week it has been. What amazing things God has done. Every day when we make the drive from our church to downtown Philly we pass right by the main big blue bridge that connects downtown to New Jersey. I can't help but be reminded of an illustration Tommy once used. "When a bridge is built BOTH sides are forever changed." NewSong felt God's call to make a bridge to this great place. I can honestly say I believe that we have made a difference here and this experiences has also made a difference in us that is permanent and for the better!

I cannot begin to describe the growth I see in our students. From our 7th graders breaking out of their shells in new ways to our seniors blossoming into the leaders God has made them to be, it has just been an incredible journey! Not to mention, our choir as a group has been forged into a deeper bond than when we left Memphis. I know there will be a lot to talk about when we return.

Thank you for your prayers. I believe they were answered. We could not have made this mission tour through without you supporting us and lifting us up in prayer. Thank you for your love. We feel it even from far away. (The students LOVED your encouragement video to us. THANK YOU)

This will sadly be the last blog for the trip, but not the last blog forever. We will definitely be keeping up with you in our future endeavors coming up soon.

We love you all so much. Enjoy the last mini clip. The quality may be a little less as our change in internet left us needing to make some adjustments. After our return, I'll be working on the "Big video" aka DVD for all of NewSong to commemorate the tour.

Thanks again for keeping up with us. We love you and will see you real soon!

2009-06-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Hey an earlier video! yay! Thank you so much for your prayers and well wishes video. It's Wednesday night as I type this at midnight so the kids will be able to see it Tomorrow night (thursday about 9:00pm when we return from our day.) Today was a very special and bittersweet day. We had to say goodbye to Cornerstone Christian Academy as this was our last working day with them. I know many of our students made real connections with those kids even in that short time. And we got a lot accomplished as well. We completed all 2,000+ mailers by hand done for them, the youth office painted, their gardens newly mulched, and also got to play with them during their recess. The highlight of the day was a special performance. Our seniors taught their children's choir Uya I Mose and we (all of NewSong) got to sing it all together. Unfortunately, I cant show it here since it would put the children in an unsafe dynamic online. But rest assured you will be able to see it soon.

After the work was done: time to play. We went and got a special tour of the Philly's Baseball stadium. Really fun and very cool as we toured the dugout, field, locker room, and more! Then the group went to our swim club to relax, while the Seniors, Jamie, and I went to.... well that will be a secret. :) But we had a special time to honor and bless our graduates from NewSong.

More will hopefully come tomorrow! We have a long day Thursday and then we leave Friday. So videos and posts will definitely slow down and may stop altogether (especially after Friday morning) But we will see you soon. We love you and thank you!

Greetings from Home

2009-06-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Surprise NewSong!

We have sent you a greeting from home. We miss everyone, hope you're all having fun and know that we are all praying for you.

We look forward to seeing the updates every morning, See you soon.

Tuesday!

2009-06-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday proved to be another awesome day! We woke up to strong thunderstorms and were a little nervous about our upcoming outdoor work plans. But thankfully, just as we pulled up to our site, the rain has departed! We helped the church and school simultaneously yesterday as we prepped on room in the basement of a church for pain, and built more desks for the kids. The night proved to be a fun night as well as we sang for a retirement complex. Again, the choir sounded great! I'll let the video tell the rest!

PS- this is our last day at the school with the internet. I will be working on a new location to post the video we will make for Wed, but if not, we will definitely keep posting on this site with or without video. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Monday!

2009-06-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

What a great day! The kids awoke bright eyed and ready for our first full work day in downtown Philly! The Cornerstone School is such a light in a place that needs it. The students did a great job helping the schools grounds, and playing with the kids. For safety reasons, we couldn't show you a lot of footage of the school children on the internet. But trust me, it was an awesome experience :) We also sang for their chapel in a beautiful church next door, and then sang at a hospice center. This was an incredibly moving experience for us as a choir as many of them had never been to a hospice before. This was also our first FULL program. The kids sounded great, especially our seniors Michael and Katherine as they had instrumental solos!

It was a definite full day. We appreciate your support and prayers. We also appreciated so much the little gifts you sent along with us like the cards and cookies. They are really a huge boost for us! Thanks, and be sure to check again tomorrow for another video!

Sunday!

2009-06-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Good news! We have video! The school we are working in has a better internet connection. This video is from yesterday documenting our travel, singing at Johnson City, celebrating Jamie's birthday, and arriving in Philly. Whew! Long day! But a good one! If we can continue to use this internet, vids will be available the day after. So you'll see Monday footage tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers!

Videos not working right now

2009-06-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Its Monday morning. As of last night, the internet is experiencing some difficulty and will not load the videos. We are working on it to see if we can try a different way. We'll keep blogging and if videos wont work, we'll let some of the kids post on here by typing. We'l hopefully have more tonight.

But we have arrived and have had a problem free trip so far! :)

Yes! We Are Excited!

2009-06-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Prepping away!

2009-06-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Don't they sound great. Philly's ears wont know what hit them.

NewSong Mission Tour

2009-06-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Trinity Youth Choir takes off on their Brother Love Tour this Saturday, June 6th to Philadelphia. Along their way they will be posting to this blog to keep their family and friends informed about how God is directing their trip.
So check back often.